Sailing/Non-stop World Race Log Two: Damian Foxalland Jean-Pierre Dick have had to work overtime and sacrifice sleep on Paprec-Virbac but the reward is that they lead the fleet as they head towards Gran Canaria.
One week into the Barcelona World Race and this has already been one of the most testing experiences I have ever encountered. Gales? 50-foot waves? Whales? Actually none of the above - they've yet to come.
From our start off Barcelona, we've battled light winds on the Mediterranean and managed to sail barely 1,500 miles to get away from land and into the Atlantic, where even here the weather patterns have been unseasonally light.
The light airs have made huge physical demands on myself and JP; we are constantly trimming our sails and getting set up for where we estimate the best wind is going to be. It's intense and we've had to manage on perhaps one hour of sleep per watch - that's four hours per day so far.
But all our effort has paid off nicely.
We opted to avoid the coast of Spain after the start and headed south past Ibiza, where we trailed Vincent Riou and Seb Josse on PRB by a few miles.
Crucially, we managed to get ahead of them before the scoring gate at the Straits of Gibraltar so we're the current overall leaders at this very early stage - only 23,500 miles to go!
After getting into the Atlantic, we invested our lead by heading west to get set up for a low-pressure system while the PRB boys went west and took over the lead once again.
But we're back in front again, and after a series of transitional wind zones we seem to be in for steady breeze all the way to the Canary Islands and the next scoring gate - but it'll be a match-race the whole way there.
The other seven boats are strung out along a line 60 miles or more behind as they decide whether to hug the coast of Africa or, like us, stay out deep looking for the best breeze.
We have 24 to 36 hours of steady sailing ahead, on the nose the whole way to Gran Canaria, which is good news; perhaps now we can get some rest in and recover from the exhaustion of the last week.
Four hours of shut-eye per day is not what I signed up for! Unlike in solo sailing, which is grab 20 minutes per hour every hour (maybe) this two-handed racing was supposed to allow for being off watch for eight hours every 24.
What I have discovered is that Suzy-Ann has managed to smuggle a few extra bags on board for me with some surprises, including a photo album from our recent holiday. She's with her parents in Canada now and emailed some pictures of Oisín playing in the autumn leaves.
These images serve as reminders that we're heading into the unknown for the next three months, and with them on my mind, sleep comes easily when at last I'm off watch.
Starting a new week refreshed will be vital as we have another major test coming up. Getting past the Canaries could be a lottery. The high mountains create wind shadows as well as acceleration zones, so calling these to score at the gate and keep our lead leaving the islands will be a big challenge.
Time to sign off.
The main bulk of the fleet may well be 80 or 100 miles astern, but PRB is less than 20 miles behind - about two hours' sailing - and could yet chip into our lead if we park up in a light spot.
In conversation with David Branigan
branigan@indigo.ie
